Cooler heads have prevailed as Ford and the UAW have reached a tentative agreement to avoid a strike at the Kentucky Truck Plant.
As we reported last week, the union threatened to shut down the facility on February 23rd at 12:01 a.m. if local issues – such as “health and safety in the plant, including minimum in-plant nurse staffing levels and ergonomic issues” – were not resolved. If that would have happened, approximately 9,000 workers would have gone on strike, halting production of the F-Series Super Duty as well as the Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
The UAW didn’t say much about the tentative agreement, but noted “workers at Ford’s most profitable plant were set to walk off the job over local issues related to skilled trades, health & safety, and ergonomics.” The union added the “tentative deal addresses these and other core issues of concern to KTP autoworkers.”
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More: UAW Threatens To Strike At Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant
That’s not much to go on, but the strike threat appeared to be a direct response to tough talk from Ford CEO Jim Farley. One day earlier, the executive said last year’s strike changed their relationship with the UAW and would cause the company to think carefully about where vehicles are made in the future. This implied he was thinking about moving production to Mexico to lower costs and retaliate against the union for going on strike at Chicago Assembly, Michigan Assembly, and the Kentucky Truck Plant in 2023.
While a strike has been averted in the Bluegrass State, the union said “there are dozens of remaining open local agreements across the Big Three automakers.” As a result, additional strikes or strike threats are possible in the future.
